Summer Wedding
by Kella Toh
Summary: Yet love they did, even if it was only for a moment...  3 WW2-set NaruHina. Rated T for brief gore. Constructive criticism appreciated.


**[A/N: For any of you who have watched the movie Atonement, you might recognize this scene somewhat. I remade it a little bit (changing characters and other things like that), but it's still the basic dialog. You don't have to watch the movie to understand this peice. Please watch the movie, though! It may ramble a bit, but it's still horrifically beautiful.]**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Atonement. They belong to their respectful owners.**

**Nurse Briony - Hyuuga Hinata**

**Luke (Wounded French Soldier) - Uzumaki Naruto**

**{Playlist /We'll Meet Again -Vera Lynn/}**

Summer Wedding

**Click**. _Clack_. **Click**. _Clack_.

The sound of her nurse's heels putted through the eerie, crowded hospital. Her dark hair, tied dutifully up into a bun, swayed ever so slightly in her somber rhythm. The tidy blue and white dress she wore was surprisingly unstained, considering the enormous surge of soldiers that had just checked in (or, out) of the war hospital where she worked.

The electric lights fluttered as she walked quickly back to her shared nurse's bedroom. Her shift was to be over soon, and it had become a disgusting habit of hers to leave early. At first, when her innocence was young and strong, she stayed longer (often by hours) to tend to the sick and hurt. But as reality sept into her worn veins, she found it harder to cling to the hope she had left. The once-delicate girl, was now a frightened woman in a world of uncertainty.

Always uncertainty. Maybe she'd see someone she knew. Or, once knew.

That had been the case with her dear cousin Neji. He had fought good for the homeland, and taken many of the enemy down with him. Yet, as she watch him die horrifically, she couldn't help but scream (internally, of course). His dearest wife, and young sons were so devastated...

"Nurse Hyuuga." The head nurse barked, snapping her out of her thoughts. The younger woman turned around suddenly, surprised at the sudden interruption.

"Y-Yes, Sister Inuzuka?" She asked cautiously, curious of whether she had been 'caught' or not.

"You speak French, don't you?" Hana inquired, her thin lips pressed into a straight line. "Or was my brother just covering up for your lack of skill?"

The young woman's heart skipped a beat. How cruel was she, to break off her engagement in such a unfashionable manner. Right before a war...

"Only school French, I'm afraid." She replied, dreading what busy-chore she was going to have to do, now. The prejudice of the older nurse burned through her bones. Whether it was washing bedpans or rationing paper for letters, it was always tedious.

"Well, it will have to do." Nurse Inuzuka's eyes softened momentarily as she glanced to a cloaked room in the corner of the bed hall. "There's a French man over there... go chat with him and hold his hand..."

She bit her lip, not entirely understanding the situation. Her pale hands unfolded, as the elder of the two stalked past her. After a few seconds of deep breathing (and praying), she weaved through the beds to the moonlit, make-shift room.

The beautiful bandage-maid parted the curtains, to see a somber sight.

It was a French soldier, with a make-shift cast wrapped gingerly around his head. Sweaty, blonde hair poked out from under the wraps of stained cloth. His glazed sea blue eyes stared out the window distantly. His head rolled over to look at the dark-haired girl.

"Hello there..." the man spoke softly in French, attempting to sit upright.

"Hello..." she said politely, moving to help him. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" As a nurse, she'd never seen such spirit for a man so bedridden. She felt that... she'd known him before, as well...

"What is your name?" His eyes fixated on her own pale orbs.

"H-Hyuuga Hinata," she stuttered under his romantic gaze. "And yours?"

"Uzumaki... Naruto." He said sadly, as if she was supposed to have recognized him, "I remember you, and your sister. You came to my family's bakery often."

Hinata bit her lip to hold back a sob. Her younger sister had been killed in a bombing raid the year before... And she barely recognized the man.

The soldier shifted uncomfortably. "Can you loosen my bandages? They're much too tight." The girl jumped up, beginning to unravel the stiff cloth.

She removed the safety pin, as he hallucinated, "Why did you come to the store so much? Was it the croissants?"

An unexpected smile broke on her smooth face. "Best in France, of course..." Her heart swelled, as he felt his gaze on her. It was... different. She had never met him in this world, but she felt like they were childhood sweethearts, like the girl he was speaking of.

What she saw under the ripped cotton, she never expected.

"My mother liked you..." The young man spoke smoothly, smiling. "She said... we should get married in the summer."

With a barely audible gasp, tears began to slip down her face. His skull had been fractured, and torn, from a bomb. She could quite literally see his brain. Dried blood colored his thick, blonde hair.

She wrapped the stained gauze back around his head loosely, making sure his head was covered completely. The Frenchman's love-filled gaze followed her as she returned to her stool by his bed.

"...Do you love me, Hinata?" He whispered, his blue eyes looking at her through tears.

"Always," She choked on an unexpected sob. "Always..." Her hand moved on top of his. He kneaded his fingers with her's, smiling softly.

"Stay with me... I'm frightened..." He said, biting his lip. A tear glistened as it fell down his tanned face.

"I will..." She said through the tears streaming down her pale face. "Always..."

Stay with him, she did. 'Till the sun shone through the window by his bed, she held his hand and reminisced. When he finally did close his eyes, she wept. He was with the angels. If only she could be with him. To have their summer wedding. To be with each other. To be in love...

Yet love they did, even if it was only for a moment...


End file.
